Nerve
He had a secondary mutation and an empty lab. It had been a week and his fur still felt itchy. As if his skin knew it didn't belong there. As if it knew it wasn't normal.
He was used to working alone in the lab. The only other intellectual in the building was Charles, and he was better suited to dusty libraries and sturdy wooden desks. No, it was better for him to work alone.
Not that he had a choice now. She used to keep him company now and again. She would sit on one of the immaculate countertops and lean over to see what he was working on. She would brush long blonde hair out of her eyes and tuck it behind her ear with a sly smile. He would enthusiastically explain what he was working on and she would listen raptly. Maybe she was only feigning interest. She was a good actress after all.
In her absence he wonders how much of it was an act. It seemed easy enough for her to leave. To leave her brother. To leave the team. To leave him.
Had she ever really cared? Was he merely the means to an end? And when the end goal changed he was thrown aside as if he never really mattered.
Maybe it's your fault she left. Just a little.
He felt enraged at the thought of him being responsible in any way. He told her the ugly truth and he'd be damned if he carried around any guilt for it.
You told her she wasn't beautiful enough.
Did he mean it? Yes. No. Sort of.
She wasn't normal like that. She couldn't be brought out in public. Other people wouldn't think she looked acceptable. But despite that...
He remembered the last time they were together. Proudly blue and smiling at him in the hangar. The sun shimmering on her scales as they fought together on the beach. Her hair standing out vividly, beautifully, against her skin when she said goodbye.
He would always remember her, mutant and proud.
He was used to working alone. But the lab seemed too large and eerily silent. The countertops were bare and clean. The fluorescent lights reflected against them blindingly.
Hank pushed his glasses up his furry nose.
He had a secondary mutation and an empty lab.
And plenty of time to rework his serum.